Module ARAM235 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
ARAM235: Contemporary History and Politics of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, the syllabus will cover all of the following topics:
- Introduction and Module Organisation
- How to Think about Legitimacy, Ideology, and Power
- Foundational Histories: Colonialism, Conquest, and Modern Statehood
- Imperialism and Capitalism in Arabia and the Indian Ocean in the 19th Century
- 20th-Century Political Movements, Uprisings and Rebellions
- The History of Oil and the Practice of Statecraft; Rentierism and its Critics
- Current Political and Economic Dynamics of Capitalism
- Islam and Politics in the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula 1920-1990
- Contemporary Social and Political Movements (1990-Present) (the Arab Uprisings and Beyond)
- The Gulf in the Global Economy; Post-Oil Economies, and Business Elites
- Narratives of the Future: ‘Visions’, Revolutions, and Reforming Princes
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 278 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 22 | 11 x 2-hour seminars |
| Guided independent study | 108 | Essay (72 hours reading, 36 hours writing) |
| Guided independent study | 80 | Weekly reading (10 x 8 hours per week) |
| Guided independent study | 90 | Reaction notes (5 x 12 hours reading, 6 hours writing) |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Other Learning Resources
Gulf States Newsletter (GSN) and the Economist Intelligence Unit’s reports on the Gulf states, electronically;
The International Crisis Group’s reports at www.crisisgroup.org;
Human Rights Watch (Middle East) produces good reports on the states of the Arabian Peninsula: http://www.hrw.org/en/middle-east/n-africa
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Achcar, Gilbert. The People Want. A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising (London: Saqi, 2013)
Al-Rasheed, Madawi. A History of Saudi Arabia (Cambridge University Press, 2002; 2nd ed.: 2010).
Bishara, Fahad. A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780-1950 (Cambridge University Press, 2017).
Hanieh, Adam. Money, Markets and Monarchies. The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Political Economy of the Contemporary Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2018)
Lacroix, Stéphane. Awakening Islam. The Politics of Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia (Harvard University Press, 2011).
